• Born in 1265
  • Died in 1321
CHILD HOOD:
  • Dante Alighieri was born into a Florentine family of noble ancestry.
  • Little is known about Dante's childhood, but the city where he spent the first 38 years of his life was an important cultural and political center. Dante's mother died when he was seven years old. His father made his living by renting off property.
  • Dante received a thorough education in both classical and Christian literature.
FAMILY LIFE:
When Dante was twelve, he was promised to his future wife, Gemma Donati. But Dante had already fallen in love with another girl whom he called Beatrice. She was 9 years old. Dante married in 1285 Gemma Donati, but his ideal lady and inspiration for his poetry was Beatrice Portinari. She married Simone dei Bardi in 1287. He was very unhappy in his marraige but continued to stay with her because he felt it was his duty. Beatrice died in June 1290, at the age of 24. After Beatrice's death, Dante withdrew into intense study and began composing poems dedicated to her memory.
  • Dante had two sons and one or two daughters by Gemma Donati.
  • In 1289 in the Florentine army Dante participated in a battle against the Arentines. He also joined politics.
  • In 1295, he entered the Guild of member Apothecaries which opened for him the doors to public office.
  • Dante served in various councils and was ambassador to San Gimignano in 1300 and then to Rome. In June 1300 he was elected a prior of Rome.
Dante argued in Monarchia, that there should be one supreme ruler, the Emperor, not the Pope, as during the reign of Augustus. So when the Black Guelphs, who had the pope's support, ascended to power, Dante was charged with corruption and condemned to death by burning. He fled to exile, but his wife and children did not accompany him. After 1302 Dante never saw his home town again, but found shelter in various Italian cities.During his exile, he started to write his Commedia (Divine Comedy). His most famous work.
  • About 1320 Dante made his final home in Ravenna, where he died on the night of September 13-14, 1321.Shortly after he died his book De Monarchia, was burned by the order of Pope John XXII. Franciscan monks hid Dante's remains, when Pope Leo X decided in 1519 to deliver them in Florence to Michelangelo, who planned to construct a glorious tomb. Again in 1677 Dante's remains were moved, and in 1865 construction workers rediscovered them accidentally.
FAMOUS WRITINGS:
  • Commedia (later named Divine Comedy)
  • Vita Nuova
  • De Vulgare Eloquentia
  • Inferno

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